Any suggestions on "less expensive" wood stoves?

[BrotherBart]

I was looking at some Englanders a few weeks ago and I swear the badges said "Made in Canadia"

Made in Monroe, Virginia.

 

[drdoct]

If it were me, I would avoid the Vogelzang brand at all costs. I would never buy anything they make if I can help it. Why? I want them out of business! Call me kooky, but I think it's a crime that they are allowed to put out such dangerous products labeled as wood stoves. From their 55 gallon conversion kit that I wouldn't trust in a gravel pit to that little boxwood that you see in every hardware store. People buy these things and actually try to install them. We get so used to being nannied that we think that they must be safe or they wouldn't be allowed to sell, right? WRONG. Same thing with their EPA exempt stoves that look somewhat like a certified stove. Tricks people into buying one for $50 less than a real stove. They even have 6" flues now to confuse you.

I'm no fan of Vogelzang, but I'm a huge fan of accurate information. This post is somewhat misleading. In all of Vogelzang's website, I can't find anything deceptive about how they present their products. To the company's credit, they now offer four models of EPA-Certified woodstoves. Yes, they are Certified. They're also approved for sale & installation in the state of Washington, which has some of the strictest requirements in the nation. These stoves could not be advertised as such unless they had passed through all the same testing and certification hoops that any other stove must pass through to earn the title. I'm not rushing out to buy one, but I applaud Vogelzang for taking steps to be competitive in the "modern" stove market, and to offer a clean-burning alternative to those on a tight budget. Perhaps it's an indication that they're trying to clean up their act, so to speak. I wish them every success in this endeavor, and I'm looking forward to reading about some folks real-life experience with these certified Vogelzangs. Rick

http://www.vogelzang.com/EPA-certified-woodstoves.htm

Sorry Fossil, I'm not trying to mislead. A step in the right direction would be to get rid of the boxwood and crap stoves they are selling everywhere. I did not say that they were lying on their website or putting epa certified on their exempt or boxwood house burners. What I said is that their epa exempt stoves look like a 'real' wood stove. People buy them all the time thinking they made a good decision only to later figure out that the epa exempt stoves don't even have an air damper. I almost did myself. I'm all for providing a good cheap product for people like me who cannot afford a nice $2000+ stove. What I'm not a fan of is making a marginal product like a boxwood stove or the drum conversion kit that has a good chance of being a whole house heater if you know what I mean. Down here I've never even seen one of their epa approved stoves. Everything down here is the junk. I'll start clapping for them when they start pulling the dangerous junk and switch over. Until then they get my condemnation.

 

[Gooserider]

I seem to recall many problems reported with the less expensive Vogelzang stoves, including possible issues with thinner castings that could potentially fail in an over-fire condition. The biggest issue is that while their website does contain accurate information if you dig for it, many of the people marketing their stoves (HF, Northern, etc.) don't clearly define what an "EPA-exempt" stove is, and that in many areas you can encounter problems with getting it legally installed and permitted... I've even seen it reccomended for use in garages, which is a code violation by definition in most places (stoves aren't OK in garages) Definitely a "deceptive marketting" issue, but whether to point the finger of blame at VZ or at their vendors can be debated...

I don't have much info on their certified stoves, but some comments have suggested that their steel is thinner than that of their competition - given that the prices for the certified VZ stoves are comparable to the Englander, Century, and other "budget priced" steel stoves, I don't see any reason to reccomend them, but am not going to run up a danger flag on them - yet...

Gooserider